what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?

Oddly my brother-in-law recently got this text for his and my sister's account but I didn't get one for my older account.   We verified the text he got came from the same place that sends other texts to both of us for billing and the link it contained is the same as those other texts.

We both agreed that giving T-Mobile our Debit or Bank Account is a no go and questioned how it would save them money to do Debit vs Credit Card.  I did mention there have been court cases brought by merchants over debit card fees and surmised perhaps those have resulted in lower fees but don’t know for sure.

One person suggested getting the paper bill and paying it via check as a solution.   They missed that the reason many of us signed up for autopay is the monthly discount.  Prior to signing up I DID pay (using online bill pay provided by my bank) and only started autopay for the discount.

I don't mind telling my bank my T-Mobile account but do mind telling T-Mobile or any other merchant my debit or bank account number.l  Firstly, my bank is far less likely to get hacked (and if they do I'd have much larger issues).  Secondly, many people have reported "accidental" extra debits in a single month by merchants they've given access to their debit or checking account.  Often that results in the merchant acknowledging it was an error but then suggesting they won't refund the overcharge but rather leave it as a credit to defray the next month's billing.  That is really bad for those who live paycheck to paycheck.   I can't say that has happened to any T-Mobile customer but also can't say it hasn't and see no reason to take the risk.

It is incorrect to say there are no protections on debit card fraud like there is on credit card.   This was true in the early days but the rules have changed meaning you CAN get your money back.   The problem is it going away in the first place.   If you have valid outstanding payments and checks they might be refused before you notice the money is gone.  Having to report the fraud, get the money back then deal with other payees penalizing you for such refusals would be a huge hassle.  With credit card charges nothing comes out of your bank account until you make a payment on the credit card.  Moreover you are not required to pay any amount you dispute (i.e. report as fraud) until the dispute is settled so it never comes out of your bank account (assuming it is in fact fraud).

P.S.  I created a separate T-Mobile account to post this lest they see my real account and send me the text telling me not having done so was an oversight on their part.  :p

Enraged666 wrote:

T-Mobile is going to lose a lot of customers they are now behaving like the other carriers with subpar service I call bs on the team of experts because when I call 611 my call gets routed overseas and I can hardly understand the rep on the phone not to mention the data breaches they have had I hope someone gets really smart and bring a class action against them because they are reckless with your info and it's just flat out wrong. They want your bank info so the next data breach all of your money will disappear 

this is crap and I am leaving T mobile because of this and I suggest you do the same other cell phone companies let you pay by credit card so you can earn miles on your card another benefit t mobile is taking away screw you T mobile after 18 years I am gone

Yep, this is a money grab to the detriment of the customer. I don't pay ANY bills with a debit card or a checking account. No one should allow a vendor to store their debit card or checking account number. There are far fewer protections for these than for credit cards.  You are giving the company FULL ACCESS to your checking account, with no legal recourse against the bank of Tmobile accidentally or intentionally takes too much or overdrafts your account.

No doubt a large company like Tmobile with a relatively large average ticket size pays less than 2% for their merchant services.  So, on my monthly $250 bill, their cost is no more than $5. But if I don't give a debit card, they charge me $40.00. UNACCEPTABLE.

I've been a loyal T-Mobile customer for 20+ years.  Will be switching to Verizon next month based on the Autopay discount that now will only be applicable to debit/checking payments.  I don't think that T-Mobile understands that I don't want them having my debit card or bank account due to their poor data security record.  This is s very poor business decision on T-Mobile's part and extremely incongruent with what has been for the past 20 years been a very positive customer experience with them.

I don't carte what you call it. If you are saying that to take my credit card, you won't give me the $15/month discount any more, that means you are raising my rates! If you talk to a T-Mobile rep, they say the discount is going away and that my rates are not going up. I don't care how you want to spin it, more money out of my pocket for Sub par service is an increase in my expenses and raising my rates! There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that this 20+ year T-Mobile/Sprint customer is giving you guys my checking account information! What do you think your customers are? Stupid? You cannot even keep my credit card data secure. AT least I can fight bogus charges with my credit card. There are NO protections for customers when you are given their checking account information (debit card # is the same thing). Once the charge is assessed to a debit card/checking account, the money is GONE. How stupid for a cell phone carrier to lose a 20+ year customer over taking a credit card, which you have done for many years! Bye Bye T-Mobile. I am looking for a new carrier.

I am a long-time (>20 years)T-Mo customer. I contacted T-Mo customer service concerning T-Mo plans to discontinue credit card payment eligibility for their autopay discounts. On seeking more detailed information, I was informed that no one in customer service has information about the specific points being charged by credit card companies, or the financial reasoning behind T-Mobile's scrooge-like behavior. Customer relations could not provide me with any corporate contact information (i.e., email/phone#) and suggested I write a letter to an address they offered. Ironic - an e-communications company, incapable of e-communications. Considering the individual net worth of T-Mobile executives and the company's current profitability: total service revenues increased 3% year-over-year to $15.5 billion, this decision illustrates the hypocrisy of their "customer-obsessed Un-carrier team" marketing. I will not be sharing my bank routing detail with a company that exposed 40 million of its customer files that included names, birthdays and social security numbers. I will be returning to a non-automated, mail-in check process while I peruse alternative cellular and internet service options.

Mr. Sievert, you and your executive team can do better!

I first thought the text message I received might be a phishing attempt.  So, I logged in to my T-Mo account and it's interesting that I saw *no* mention of this even when viewing my current Auto Pay settings.  With a bit of news search (and stumbling upon *this* forum) I found it to be legitimate.

Hah!  It seems there might be another reason to push us off of credit card autopay….

(received via FaceBook Messenger)

"I understand not want to provide us with your direct checking account information, but luckily enough, we have an alternate method called the T-Mobile MONEY which is an FDIC-insured, high interest and mobile-first checking account that pays everyone a 2.5% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on all balances. Find out more about it with this link https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/t-mobile-money?cmpid=hw_send. I recommend this method in order to keep your bank account under the radar. Let me know how this sounds to you and if you have any questions for me."

Credit card fees are only 3%.  This loss of discount is a major money grab.  Considering how frequently TMobile gets hacked it would be crazy to link a bank or debit card to the account.  Remember, there are no safeguards automatically in place for fraud using a debit card like there is for a credit card.  I really don't want someone to drain my banking accounts.

Verizon will only let you use their credit card. ATT will accept any credit card.  

This is very irritating to say the least.  CC are a part of doing business everywhere.  It doesn't cost $5 a line to process a credit card.  Also, they only charged me once a month for all my services.  That's one credit card transaction, but they are going to charge for each line.  That's just wrong.  If they wanted to charge $5 for each transaction, that's one thing.  But to charge $5 for each line in once transaction is criminal.  Time to decide which greedy company I should change to next. 

First Comcast and now Tmobile. To get my autopay discount originally, IT WAS REQUIRED THAT I PROVIDE A CREDIT CARD NUMBER. The 3-4% fee charged by the credit card companies comes nowhere close to $10, at least in my case. Neither of these companies can provide good, reliable service anymore. It is an excuse to hose the customer for an extra $10. Since they are both mum on exactly why, one reasonable hypothesis is internal employees have access to card numbers, security codes, etc and may have been selling them on or using them for personal gain. By going the direct bank account route, both companies avoid the protections afforded customers using credit cards. Since they don't discuss why they are changing, one can only conjecture. The $10 fee may be what they calculate to cover the cost, apportioned over EVERY customer, of all of the bills that will wind up in collections.